A Shadow's Meeting With a Bean Sprout
by Crystal Meadow
Summary: Fade needs some information about exorcists, and what better person to ask than an exorcist themself, escpecially when it's our 3 favorite guys? By the end of the night though, she just might be the one teaching them.


"Loki, we can't go yet. We don't have enough for my report," I whined to my boyfriend.

"That's great. The thing is, I'm done with my report, and I really do have a lot more work to do, so-"

"Oh no you don't," I said as I summoned some shadow tentacles and bound his legs together, "I stayed with you when you did that report on that stupid magic castle out in Nowhere, England. The least you could do is stay here with me. I need to finish this report. Not to mention that we both know that you wouldn't do any amount of work if you went back. You would just get on everybody else's nerves that are still working on these stupid assignments," I finished as I forcefully dragged him across the floor.

We were in some pub in some city that I didn't care about. We've been all over the stupid city trying to find out about this world's major thing. All we've been able to find out about are that there are things called akuma, people called exorcists, and objects called innocence. That last one was a pain to find out about too. We heard that a group of 'exorcists' were in this café and they are this world's fighters. If they don't know about this stuff than nobody would.

The only thing that I know a lot about are the main bad guys here, the Noah. They are the ones that kind of command the akuma, I think. Really they're your normal crazy bad guys trying to end all life from some strange reason. I think it has something to do with God. He seems like a pretty important person in this world.

"It's your lucky day Shade. There's a whole gaggle of exorcists brooding in the corner. Can I go know?" Loki moaned to me.

"How about you sit at the bar and get some general info, kay?"

"Eh, it's better than nothing. See ya in awhile," he said with a kiss, and than went to go drain the bar of all of its alcohol. One thing I learned is that Loki can't feel the effects of liquor. Apparently since he is basically a fire elemental he burns off all the alcohol. It's like an energy drink for the guy. By the end of the knight he'll probably fleece every drunk guy in here and be like a five year old on a sugar high.

I slowly made my way to the back where the exorcists were and examined them on the way. The first one you noticed was the one with the red hair and green eyes, with a bright green scarf to match. He was the loudest of the three and was annoying the tallest one. He kind of reminded me of my own red haired companion back at the bar.

The tallest one looked like he was going to use that sword he had and behead the red head. He had long black hair tied into a high ponytail. He also had a glare that looked like it was a permanent fixture on his face. It seemed that he was tormenting the shortest of the three.

I liked him the best. The fact that he was the only other person with white hair that I've ever met had nothing to do with it. Really, it didn't. Beside that fact, he seemed like the nicest one there. He was trying to keep the peace between Mr. Glare and Mr. Red, while trying to defend himself from Mr. Glare as well. He had grayish-blue eyes, but there was a red scar going over the left side of his face. When he turned his head just slightly, I thought I saw what might have been a pentagram, but his hair covered it up. They were all wearing the same thing, a black trench coat with a silver thingy on the left shoulder. If I remember right, that was what marked you as an exorcist.

"Hello," I said, "do you mind if I sit down, chat maybe?"

"Yes," the tallest one said, aiming his glare at me. I didn't look away and merely raised an eyebrow. I had become immune to death glares a year and a half into my stay with the warriors.

"Kanda," the one with white hair said, "don't be mean. Of course you can sit here," he said directing the last bit at me. I was right. He really is nice.

"Whatever moyashi," Kanda said to white hair.

"Kanda-" white hair threatened to Kanda but was interrupted by red hair.

"My name's Lavi. The other one is Allen, and you already know Yuu's name."

"Yuu?" Was he talking about Kanda?

"Kanda," Mr. Glare said, "not Yuu."

"Ookay then. Nice to meet you Lavi, Kanda, Allen. My name is," I paused to think if should give a fake name but I decided against it. They are the good guys after all. "Fade," I finished. Kanda narrowed his eyes at me, obviously hearing my pause right before I gave my name.

"What do you want?" he asked in a suspicious tone.

I paused again before I answered, considering if I should tell the outright truth or if I should go about it in a round about way. The glare and suspicious looks I was getting made me go with the former. "I need some info, about akuma, exorcists, and related things. What better person to ask then an exorcist?"

"Why do you need to know," this time the question was from Lavi. That was a harmless question that I could answer without hesitation.

"I have to do a report on those subjects. There is no other way for me to find out about them than to just go up and randomly ask somebody that might know. And before these questions go on, I might be able to prove that I'm telling the truth. Have you guys heard of the Warriors of the Layers?" I said desperately hoping that they had heard of them.

"Yeah," Lavi said with surprise, "they show up once in a blue moon in history. There are said to have helped in problems that the exorcists of that time couldn't fix. They just kind of show up and disappear. The Warriors of the Layers were only mentioned two times in all of written history. Three times if you include an allusion to them in a spoken song."

I just kind of stared at him in awe; one for the fact that the kid was like a human encyclopedia of facts and the other because I was going out on a limb with that. Clearly the gods want me to do this report.

Once I gathered the scattered pieces of my brain I said, "Well, you're looking at a captain for those very people. We are notoriously good and can keep a good secret. So please, help out a fellow fighter in need."

"Is that strange guy at the bar with you too?" Allen asked before Lavi could pump any more information out of me.

"What, the guy making a fool out of himself downing full bottles of alcohol? Yep, he's even been a captain longer than I have. Now back to the subject, I can tell that you really like facts Lavi. I'll let you ask one question, I get my fill of information for my report, and I won't be so guarded when we talk, deal?"

"Sure," Lavi said agreeing with the group. Allen looked curious, and Kanda looked like he did before, like he hated and didn't trust me. Lavi thought for a bit before he spoke again, "My one question is what is the purpose of your group."

Now I could have been mean and answered cryptically but I still needed my information, and besides, I'm not usually mean. It would probably be entertaining to see their faces if I tell them the truth anyways.

"We used to be a group of people, now due to our numbers, an organization, that would make sure that all the universes, worlds, layers, what ever you want to call them, don't get to out of balance. If a world has a problem that is to big for that world's defenders to handle, then they send out a team to help fix the problem. We aren't supposed to interfere, or meddle as I'm told by my superior, so we just kind of disappear out of history books and the like," I finished stealing a cup of something that looked pretty full. It was probably Allen's since Kanda was now smirking and Lavi had his in his hand. I don't think they believed my story, but Lavi had a thinking look on his face.

"Now," I said getting to their end of the bargain, "give me the whole story on akuma and innocence."

"Well," Allen said this time, a lot more serious, "akuma are machines that contain the soul of a deceased person. The Millennium Earl controls and summons them. When a person mourning over the deceased says the deceased name, the soul comes back to the machine, but under the control of the Millennium Earl. He then says to kill that person and tells the akuma to where the person like a skin so they can blend into society," Allen finished going for his drink only to realize that it wasn't there. I smiled sheepishly and offered it back to him. He just shrugged his shoulders and continued with his story," Akuma are killing machines only made to kill humans. That is where the exorcists and the innocence come in we-"

"Wow, look at how far he can spit the fire!"

"That's so amazing!"

We all turned back to see what was going on. Kanda grabbed his sword and Lavi reached down and grabbed a little hammer. I could see out of the corner of my eye that Allen was getting ready to remove his glove.

At the bar Loki apparently got bored so he started to show off. I doubt that anyone realizes that he isn't actually keeping any alcohol in his mouth. Breathing fire is one of his most used boredom alleviators.

"LOKI!!" I yelled. I startled him and he swallowed some of the fire. Huh, serves him right. "Could you be a dear and buy me and my friends a round of drinks?" I asked in an overly sweet voice. The three exorcists calmed down and got out of their battle ready stances.

"Sure thing," he said in a raspy voice. I laughed and turned back around to the table, but made sure to put a little of my power in his drink to heal his throat. Healing spells are still new, but I have a natural thing for them.

"You know," I said talking to the table, "I think I know about innocence and exorcists. Exorcists are the fighters for this world. They are the ones that fight the akuma and protect the people. Innocence is your weapon. Am I right?"

"Mostly," said Lavi speaking in a serious voice too. He stopped when the waiter came over with our drinks. He continued when he was out of earshot, "innocence is a name for an group of items. When somebody finds it and is compatible with it, they become an exorcist. Some people have them in items, like me and Yuu, and some people have it in their bodies like Allen," Kanda growled menacingly at Lavi but he ignored it.

"Really," I said interested, "can I see?" I asked pleadingly at Allen.

"I-I guess," Allen took off his glove and showed a red hand with a glowing cross in it, and black fingernails. It probably continued all the way up his arm. I picked up his hand and focused some of my powers into my hands so I could get a read on what it could do. It felt strange. It felt like whenever I used my light powers, only he didn't have to concentrate. When I caught up to what I was doing, I blushed a little and placed his hand back on the table. The three exorcists looked at my hands and just stared. I didn't get it until I remembered that when I use my powers, my tattoos glow.

"They do that sometimes. Cool hand by the way. It kind of reminds me of my tattoos. I know how much of a hassle it is always trying to cover something up that covers your entire arm."

"Yeah," Lavi said still staring at my hands that just stopped glowing, "Why do they do that?" he asked while still absorbing everything like a sponge.

"When I concentrate my powers that happens. My shadow arm absorbs the dark, and the light arm emits light. They just do that."

"Do you need to know anything else?" Allen asked just coming back from where ever his mind just was.

"Just one more, though it is mostly just my curiosity. Why do people respect the Noah so much anyway?"

"What do you mean? They are incredibly strong and smart. Not to mention that they are direct descendants of Noah," Allen asked with Lavi and even Kanda looking interested.

"Well they are only . . ." I drifted off wondering what I could tell them without getting in trouble. If I out right told them I could get in trouble if word got around, and it almost always does. Leader already questions me when I get back from going somewhere what in rules i broke. I really did want to tell them though. They are the ones fighting them after all. In the end I compromised, "How were the akuma created?" I asked coming up with a plan.

"The akuma were created by the Millennium Earl," Lavi said unsure of where I was going.

"Then who created the Millennium Earl?" I shot back.

"Nobody knows. The Millennium Earl is as old as the Noah that built the first ark for the floods," Kanda said to me, the first nice thing to me in the evening.

"Then what about the akuma? They have to have more than just a reason to kill. What drives the akuma itself?" I pressed on.

"The akuma like to kill people. That is their job," Kanda said again.

"Even things like akuma have to have a base instinct. Salmon like to swim but that doesn't account for how they know to swim to a certain place every year," I pushed on, trying to make them see the point.

"They evolve," Allen said after some thought, "They evolve and get more power."

"But even the salmon knows what is at the end of its long swim. Does the akuma know what is at the end of its evolution? Does anyone know?" I asked now starting to have fun. Loki and his word games must have rubbed off on me. They were so close to the answer.

"They get power. . ." Allen spoke out loud trying to solve my riddle.

"No way," Lavi said, you could basically here the light bulb turning on, "you have to be wrong."

"Wrong on what? I didn't say anything. I was merely posing questions to find out more information," I said leaning back in my chair and grinning into my drink. Lavi must have some type of duty or job that has to involve information. He's a pretty sharp guy.

"What does she mean?" Allen asked like a little kid left out of a joke.

"She's saying that the Noah aren't super humans. They are just akuma at the highest evolution," Lavi said in a dazed voice.

"And the shadow of the day, will embrace the world in gray . . ." I started singing under my breath wondering what was going through their minds. I don't think they are going to be talking very soon.

They all looked at me and I stared at them. I drained the last of my drink and looked at them hard. You didn't really need the jackets to tell you that they were warriors. They had the battle-hardened soul already there. Then I looked at youngest out of all of them. I can see from here that that really is a pentagram over his left eye. The kid was cursed, probably by an akuma. Yet he has the power of God running through his veins. He's a walking contradiction in terms. This is the one that the world will put all of its hope and expectations on. Under all of that, even with his friends, he'll probably break after everything. I don't think I could let that happen in good conscious.

"I am sorry that people like you have to fight and people like us can do nothing to help you. It really isn't fair. Maybe I can blackmail the boss or something in to letting me and my team run with you guys in your last battle. Until then, may we not meet again," I said getting up and giving a slight bow.

"Not meet again?" Lavi questioned from his seat with an upraised eyebrow.

"We only come to a world when it is dire need, remember? This was just a fluke meeting. Your world may be bad, but it isn't at the point that warrants outright interference," I said dropping the illusion on my hair, eyes, and arms for just long enough to show them that they weren't seeing things. They all had wide eyes, even Kanda. I winked and said, "The next time we meet I probably won't be wearing a glamor. That is so that if we meet again, you'll know me."

After that I turned towards Loki and motioned towards the door. He gathered up the last bottle on the bar and downed it in three gulps and ran up to me and put his hand around my waist.

"A penny for your thoughts milady," he said as he conjured a fire in his hand to light the street.

"This world is pretty messed up. Is that why Dux makes us do these reports? Your world was depending on a child to go up against a crazy madman with a power complex. The same things is going on here, only on a much bigger scale," I said as put my head on his shoulder.

"Probably. Each world has a potential to go bad, and each world will probably be visited by us sooner or later. This is just a bunch of easy recon. It sucks that there are worlds like this," he said a little sad looking up at the stars.

"No it sucks that worlds like this make people like them go through the things that they go through," I said as I saw the three teenagers leave the bar walking at an angle away from us. Allen turned around when he saw me and just stared. After a second his left eye went in on itself in a way.

It became black with a red bull's-eye in it. He turned around and started running away from us. I summoned up a shadow portal. It didn't really matter if he saw. I planned to make good on my promise anyway. With that thought I nodded to myself and pulled Loki with me. He just looked down at me with a bemused smile like he knew that I was thinking of meddling with this world. He probably knows me well enough to know that that was exactly what I was thinking. At least I know him well enough that he would be with me.

This world left its mark on both of us. One I don't think we'll forget anytime soon.

Disclaimer: I only own Fade and Loki. Everybody else belongs to someone that isn't me.


End file.
